


Eleventh Hour

by maderi



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Android Gore (Detroit: Become Human), Angst with a Happy Ending, Attempted Murder, Friends to Lovers, Idiots in Love, Kidnapping, Love Confessions, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:14:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22062388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maderi/pseuds/maderi
Summary: When the DPD discover a secret CyberLife facility, a serial killer is let lose in Detroit, making the inactivated RK900 his masterpiece for them to find. Hank and Connor try to balance their new lives and relationship as best they can, but when Connor suddenly disappears, Hank's eleventh hour might have just arrived.
Relationships: Hank Anderson/Connor
Comments: 1
Kudos: 54
Collections: New ERA Discord: Winter Big Bang





	Eleventh Hour

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Nolfalvrel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nolfalvrel/gifts).



> This is a part of the New Era Winter Big Bang event! Nolfalvrell made some amazing art, make sure you have a loot at it! 😄
> 
> You can find it here:  
> [TADAAA!](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22065448)

Hank hadn’t actually believed his own eyes when Connor walked around the corner across the street from where he stood outside The Chicken Feed, heading straight for him with something aching to an insecure smile on his face. Had he been of sound mind that day, Hank would have been surprised to see such a human expression on Connor so soon after his deviation. 

Wrapping Connor up in the biggest bear-hug he could muster, Hank held onto the young android until the sun had set, bathing the city of Detroit in a dark, glittering cape. He would deny it till the day he died, but the moment, to be allowed to hold Connor close to him had made emotions he had thought long gone, emerge once more. 

More than one set of eyes had been wet that day, which in turn had presented a whole new surprise for Hank. Android’s didn’t just cry real-ass tears, they cried blue. The Thirium in their bodies, Connor had explained, worked as one of many fluid outlets for them. 

It had taken Hank more than an hour to recover from Connor’s blue streaked face, and then, as if it had never been there, to begin with, the Thirium had evaporated, leaving a clean-faced Connor in its wake. 

They had both been nervous as Hank drove them to his house, neither one knowing what to say, too deep in thoughts about the emotions coursing through them at seeing each other. Hank had been sure Connor had died, had seen the shot being fired as Perkins had had enough of the androids peacefully protesting. 

It had been the catalyst for the entire uproar, but humans and androids alike going on the defense against the joint military forces. The cameras had turned away from the scene though, no one reporting about the deviated android hunter. Hours upon hours had gone by before finally, Hank had walked out the door and headed for The Chicken Feed, to the time and place they had agreed to meet up by the end of the revolution.

Hopeful, Hank had stood there and waited, his heart sinking the closer the time came to their point of meeting, convinced that Connor had not survived the shot. He had been close to bailing, indecision raging inside him, uncertain if he would be strong enough to survive when Connor didn’t show up. Hands in his pockets, Hank had worried the last few minutes, holding out against hope. And then... 

Now though, Hank knew he should have known better. This was Connor, the only android in existence that had ever managed to surprise him. The only one who could ensnare his cold, heavy heart and brighten his life once more. Connor always had an ace up his sleeve, Hank should have known that, but when those puppy brown eyes looked up at him so hopefully, Hank had been unable to hold back his shock. Until Connor’s little brother came along. 

Three months later, three months of Connor and Hank trying to dance their way around each other, there was a call from Fowler. An hour later, they showed up to a facility that had been disguised as an old barn, the insides concealing a full-blown CyberLife factory. It had been like walking into a scene from a horror movie. Androids lay scattered across the floors, the Thirium long gone for any human eye to see, but the gasp that escaped Connor’s lips told Hank everything he needed to know. 

This had been a massacre. 

And in the middle of it, made as if to be a gorey messiah, an RK900 hung strung up by its components, jaw moving slowly as unseeing, icy blue eyes looked around, no doubt trying to decipher if the moving shadows were friends or foe. 

Reed had picked that exact moment to wander down after them, his smart mouth audibly clapping shut as he swore and picked up his phone, dialing someone as he circled the RK, not moving closer to it. 

To everyone’s surprise, Elijah Kamski had crashed the scene, accompanying Reed with his Chloe’s. They had managed to save the RK900’s life, getting him down from the hinges and hooks and stable enough to be moved to their own facility inside Kamsji’s home. 

Connor had been scared to his very core from that day on and with the only android on the force out of commission, Hank had had nowhere else to be than at Kamski’s home, supporting Connor the best he could. 

Connor hadn’t left the RK900’s side for a full week, forcing Hank to stay at Kamski’s, surprisingly enough, together with Reed. Hank hadn’t been surprised to know that Reed and Kamski were brothers, he had seen the resemblance the very first time he had met Kamski, but to actually learn that they used to be close as brothers were something else. 

Reed hadn’t wanted to talk about the reason why the two were on bad terms with each other, but what Reed kept quiet about, Kamski was more than happy to talk about. Hank had learned a whole lot more than he ever wanted to about his colleague during that week. 

It somehow brought them closer to each other though. To see Gavin’s human side once more was something Hank would have never thought he’d see again. He still remembers the green-eyed naive young man who had walked into the precinct that very first day when he started out. Since then, Gavin had changed, and not for the better. 

Now though, it was as if something had connected between the RK and Gavin. When the RK first woke up, it had been terrified, the trauma so clearly translated that Hank actually felt ashamed for ever believing that androids couldn’t feel human emotions. Connor had helped calm the RK down, but it wasn’t before Gavin tentatively entered the room and spoke that the RK visibly relaxed. 

Gavin had been as uncomfortable with the attention as ever, but he had, surprisingly enough, been there for the RK. The softly spoken words, the subtle grounding when Gavin would touch a hand or shoulder, everything was a new side the detective neither Hank nor Connor had ever witnessed before from the gruff man. 

Kamski didn’t seem to be surprised though, the soft smiles he would give as he entered the room to check in the RK’s status or to run tests, told a story about a much softer and gentle Gavin than they had ever met before. 

The whole ordeal sat the fragile bonds Connor and Hank had managed to create on hold though. Connor would take comfort in Hank when he wasn’t with the RK, but other than that, Hank barely saw Connor if he wasn’t physically in the room with them. 

It left them to awkwardly dance around each other when at last, the RK had been deemed as healthy as Kamski could make him. Connor and Hank had driven home that night after making sure that the RK settled into Gavin’s surprisingly clean apartment. Connor hadn’t wanted to leave him behind, but the RK had reminded Connor of their built-in connection so that if the RK needed to, he could be talking with Connor on the second. 

Tired and ready to crash Hank hadn’t noticed how Connor fumbled, how he twisted his finger nervously before he had closed his bedroom door with a tired ‘goodnight’ to Connor, leaving the young android to stand outside his door. 

It had been their usual routine, Connor would wait until Hank had settled into bed before moving on to his own room. They had yet to take that final step and admit their feelings for one another, or rather, Hank hadn’t. Connor had expressed every wish and deepest hopes for the future the very first days living with Hank, but he had been unable to reply to those wishes and hopes. 

He was old and Connor was so young. He would live forever and Hank, well, Hank would not. He had decided that he couldn’t do that to the kid. Connor still had a whole life to experience and then some. It would be unfair of Hank to tie him down to an old man when his life had just begun. Therefore, the soft knock that landed on Hank’s bedroom door took him completely by surprise.

“Hank?” Connor’s unsure voice called from the other side. 

“Yeah, Connor?” Hank grunted, voice a little rough from powering down for sleep. 

“C-could I come in?” The stutter in Connor’s voice had Hank sitting up and turning to get out of bed in mere seconds. 

“Everything alright, Connor? Do I need to call Kamski?” The young android looked up at him, fingers twisting together in front of him. 

“I just wondered - Would it be alright if I sat in your bed for a little while?” Connor asks, uncharacteristically not meeting Hank’s eyes. 

Something had to be horribly wrong. 

“Of course, not. Come on in, Connor. Do you uh - do you need anything? Some Thirium or um...” Hank didn’t exactly know what a distressed android needed.

“N-no, Hank. Thank you,” Connor smiled as he walked past Hank, only to flop down into Hank’s bed so hard the frame whined in discomfort. 

“I-I’m sorry,” Connor squeaked from where he had hidden his face in the duvet. 

Something about the scene seemed vaguely familiar to Hank, but as it was, he had no idea where to connect the scene in front of him to. Walking over to sit down on his side of the bed, Hank looked down at the young android. 

A month and a half ago, he had insisted on wearing ‘pajamas’ when he went to bed. Given, Connor didn’t actually have to sleep at night, but he liked to power down to let his systems run diagnostics and file away information he had picked up during the day. He now had a bed, a pillow, and duvet, but after the first day he had walked out without his clothes on, nearly giving Hank a heart attack, Connor had insisted on pajamas. 

It lead them to a horrible shopping round the very same afternoon. Connor had been pickier than that princess with the fucking pea. Flannel was wrong, cotton wasn’t what he was looking for, satin was smooth, but somehow not good enough, which lead him to the silk section with prices that had Hank close to tears. 

Thinking that the goal had been raced, Hank had prepared to pay and go home to a greasy dinner and a game on the tv. Oh, how wrong he had been. With the worldwide web at his feet, Connor had gone through every optional nightwear available to mankind before ending up with a pair of silk briefs as his pajamas. 

Hank had been ready to commit the first android hate crime at that moment, but the sooner Connor got what he wanted, the sooner Hank could get home to his tv and hopefully, his sanity. Of course, it hadn’t been until that very night when Hank’s carnal buddies awoke once more, giving him one of his wettest dreams to date. 

The last time Hank had awoken with creamed underwear and a raging hardon, he had been a teenager. The feeling of both pride and embarrassment rode hard on him as he staggered his way over the hall to his bathroom, the sticky fabric sliding uncomfortably against his sensitive parts. He’d bundled up his shorts and stepped into the bathtub for a scolding hot shower, using enough soap to hopefully dispense of all evidence. Of course, this had not worked as Connor had walked into the kitchen thirty minutes later and praised Hank for still being virile. 

Now though, as the young, half-naked android lay face down in his bed, thighs lightly spread, Hank knew for a fact that there was nothing wrong with his virility. His cock was chubbing up rapidly, leaving no doubt about how turned on he was about the sight before him. 

Connor’s smooth spotted porcelain skin lay bare before him, the flimsy silk brief snug against Connor’s more than subtle ass, the curve of it so smooth and perky like this, it made Hank want to groan aloud. So instead, he turned to puff his pillows before leaning back against them, legs stretching to lay beneath Connor’s calves.

“Wanna talk about it?” He tries awkwardly, still not knowing how to handle the younger man. 

“No,” Connor mumbles, a second later, turning his head to stare at Hank, “How could anyone do this an innocent person, Hank?”

“You’re talking about the mass murderer?” Hank had to make sure, even though it was obvious that was who Connor was talking about. 

“Yes. Nines had done nothing wrong, he hadn’t even been activated yet and then, this is his first impression of the world he was created to protect, getting tortured and left to die,” Connor’s voice wavers and cracks, his speakers strained as emotions roll around inside him. 

“Nines?” Hank asks, no doubt looking as confused as he feels. 

“My successor, the RK900, my - my little brother. He chose the name Nines,” Connor mumbles, looking lost where he lays. 

“Connor, I - Come here,” Hank sighed, patting the space beside him and waiting for Connor to sit down beside him. 

“Not like that, christ Connor, sit like a normal person,” He complains when Connor sits down on his knees in a position that is anything but decent for what they’re about to discuss. 

“You see,” Hank starts, wrapping Connor into his arms when the younger man finally sits down beside him, “some people just don’t work the way they’re supposed to. There’s something inside them that are broken, messed up somehow.”

“In a way, they’re sick, unable to help themselves. It doesn’t make what they do right, but I think, it’s the only way to try to understand and move on. Just realizing and come to terms with the fact that some people just do bad things for no good reason, I think, for me, that helped.” Hank says slowly, letting the thoughts fall into place as he talks. 

He has no real idea of what to say, have no idea if this is even something Connor wants to hear, but he’s only one man, a man that isn’t used to comforting other adults. If there’s even a chance he will have the right words, he will damn well try. 

“Nines is ok, Hank, but I’m -I don’t think that I am,” Deep brown eyes look up at him, and right then and there, Hank’s heart breaks anew. 

“Oh, Connor...” Hank sighs, pulling the younger man closer. “Should I, we, call Kamski in the morning? I don’t know, is there therapy for androids?” Hank wonders aloud. 

“I don’t know. I think his advice would be good.” Connor admits, folding up into himself. 

The insistent knock on his door pulls them out of their little moment. The knocks keep falling heavy and too rhythmic on the wood as Hank grabs his gun and moves to see who was at the door. A face he knows all too well, yet, not at all greets him. The knocking continuing until he opens the door and lets the distressed android in. 

“Apparently, Connor is dying,” Gavin’s tired face greets him after the RK- after Nines had walked past him. Gavin is still in his own pajamas, hair sleep tousled and hoodie hastily thrown over his t-shirt.

“Coffee?” Hank sighs as he shows Gavin into his home, he doesn’t think the other man has ever been inside his house before. 

“So, how am I killing Connor?” He eventually asks when the coffee machine beeps and he’s poured them both a cup. 

“Something about Connor telling him or showing him he’s feelings or some pheckin’ shit like that. Toaster’s broken...” Gavin mumbles sleepily, “Dragged me outta bed, yellin’ desperately bout Connor needin’ him,”

“Not a morning person, are you?” Hank can’t help himself. 

“It’s not even asscrack-a-dawn, Anderson, ‘s too damn early,” And then he yawns, rubbing his eyes as a kid would before continuing, “for that shit,” 

Looking at the clock on the stove proved Gavin right as it read 2:48 am. Yawning, Hank took a sip of his coffee and leaned back in his chair, scratching his stomach as he closes his eyes. 

“So... What happened?” Gavin asks softly, his curiosity winning. 

“Went to bed, almost fell asleep and then Connor came knocking. I think he’s - kid’s not right, Gavin. Think the - I think it was too much, feeling, seeing, connecting to R- Nines at the factory.” Hank stumbles, the words not sitting right as he says them. 

“What do you mean?” And like this, Gavin looks painfully young. 

“I think he’s traumatized, Reed. The things he said as we spoke, way he acted, the look on his face... It wasn’t Connor,” The memory is still unsettling for Hank, the haunted brown eyes he’s loved so much looking up at him without actually seeing anything. 

It’s a coffee pot and a few hours later when Connor and Nines emerge. It’s almost comical to see the two beside each other. Connor small in comparison to Nines, they’re built about the same, their looks identical except for Nines’ ice gray eyes. He looks lethal to Connor’s sweet puppy eyes and soft smiles. 

“Hank,” Connor starts, leaning into Nines for a quick second as if to draw strength from the younger android. “I think we’ve found the killer,”

For long moments, neither Hank nor Gavin moves, the information too outlandish for either one to register. Then, all at once, the pieces fall together Hank’s glad he has half a coffee pot in him for this.

“How?” He asks, short, simple. 

“The RK series have our own - cloud that we upload our memories. It is reserved only for us so that we can function without a fault. When - the suspect activated Nines, what he saw got uploaded to the cloud in a collection of Nines’memories.” Connor explains and for some odd reason Hank can’t explain, it actually makes sense to him. 

“When Nines was activated, he was already pretty damaged, his stress levels almost high enough to self-destroy, so the footage was blended together to preserve his calm until we came. We’ve been working on a way to decrypt the order to get the suspect’s face, but...” Connor looks troubled once more and something inside Hank pulls at him to comfort Connor. 

“Connor has been sorting through my memories and footage,” Nines says courtly and for some reason, he reminds Hank of a much grumpier and arrogant Gavin. 

“The stress for the files has been a challenge, but Connor managed to piece them together. We have a clear shot of the culprit, Lieutenant Anderson.” It’s almost scary to see how much he resembles Connor from the first time they met, but somehow, they’re still very different from each other. 

“Where’s the shot then, dipshit?” Gavin growls before yawning widely. 

“If you are referring to your gastrointestinal discomfort, Detective, I am afraid there is no vaccination against it. I would suggest a diet with more fiber for a man of your age,” Nines finishes, leaving Gavin a gaping mess as Hank laughs aloud. 

“Oh, Connor, we’re keeping this one,” He all but howls as he wipes at his eyes. 

Looking up again, Hank’s presented with Nines’ playful smirk and beside him, Connor looking shy with his own smile as he meets Hank’s eyes. It is first then that he realizes that Connor is dressed in his uniform, and not his choice of nightwear. 

“I guess we’re going to the precinct then?” Hank sighs, draining the last bit of lukewarm coffee from his cup. 

“I am afraid so, Hank. Every second count in catching this man,” Connor actually does look apologetic this time. 

“Alright, give me five and we’ll be on our way,” He hopes the smile he gives Connor is reassuring, but right then, he wasn’t sure if he could muster the energy to actually smile when his partner looked so worried. 

“I took the liberty of calling it in, Hank,” Connor’s voice calls from behind him as he dresses in his bedroom. “The rest of the squad will meet us for a briefing before we head out to catch this guy.”

“You saw everything that happened to Nines, didn’t you? Felt it with that hand thingy that you do?” Hank asks, no longer able to hold in the question that had haunted him for the last few minutes. 

“I - yes. It has been a source of great distress as of late,” Connor admits, looking down as if in shame. 

“Hey now, don’t - don’t do that, Connor. What you did was a brave thing, but you’re allowed to lean on other people, you know?” Wrapping Connor up in a big bear hug, Hank wishes he possessed the bravery to tell Connor how he felt about him. 

“But I have, Hank,” Connor chirps from somewhere in Hank’s chest, “You have been a great source of comfort for me.”

Ruffling Connor’s perfectly styled mop of hair as they break apart, Hank pulls his t-shirt off and reaches into his closet for something to wear. He’s not at all surprised when his choice of shirt is halted by Connor’s suggestion of another. It was a thing they did daily, a routine Hank would like to do for as long as he lived. 

“Connor,” Hank started after buttoning the last button on his shirt, Connor’s big, brown puppy eyes looking hopefully up at him, “Connor, I -”

“Oi, you finished in there? We need to go!” Gavin shouts from the living room, breaking the moment and the softness between them. 

“What were you going to say, Hank?” Connor asks hopefully.

“It can wait till we get back,” Hank says, smiling what he hopes is a soft, comforting smile devoid of the panic steadily climbing inside of him. 

“If you insist...” Connor sighs before turning to leave the bedroom. 

Hank feels awful as he watched the hope go out in Connor’s eyes, but he was a coward, that’s just who he was. Of course, he knew how Connor felt about him. Had known for a long time already, but to take that final step, Hank wasn’t so sure he could do that again. 

Following Connor, the four of them headed for the DPD and the hunt ahead of them. 

*

Connor was gone. 

Missing. 

The suspect, Hammond Smith, had kidnapped him right from under Hank’s nose, had taken him away from Hank with a high probability of never seeing the young android again. For the fifth time in as many minutes, Hank kicks the nearest thing, this time, a chair, and sends it flying. 

“I should have known,” He growls, anger and desperation high in his body. 

Nines were working on following the white van Smith had most likely escaped in. Connor’s internal communication system was still online, making it easier for him to track their direction. By the frowning expression on his face though, Hank doubted Connor was doing very good. 

Eventually, Nines jumps up and runs to Gavin’s car. There’s a series of pings as an address is dispatched to each and every officer in their makeshift office outside the crime scene where Connor was taken from. 

“Come with us, old man,” Gavin growls as he drags Hank along, sneaking away in the chaos that ensues. 

“If you do anything out of line, Anderson, I will personally end you,” Gavin threatens once they are on their way, Gavin turning this and that way as Nines gives directions. 

“I know,” Hank replies absentmindedly. 

What Gavin is doing is against regulation, Hank knows that. But then again, Gavin has never been one for rules, and for once, Hank was grateful for that. The streets blend together as they rush through them, blue lights blinking, reflecting off of the buildings they pass. Nines gasps suddenly and Hank is afraid to ask when the car moves faster than it did before, new desperation added to the chase. 

He didn’t know if Connor had just died or if the madman had started torturing Connor the same way he had tortured Nines. If he had to choose, he hoped Connor’s life had ended, the more merciful of the two, even though he would be helpless without Connor in his life. 

“Detective,” Nines urges, receiving a growled ‘Got it’ in return as Gavin comes to a skidding halt. 

“Don’t fucking move, Hank!” Gavin shouts as the two of them jump out of the car and starts running, Gavin following after Nines as he leads the way. 

He doesn’t know how long he sits there for when a sleek black car comes to a skidding halt and Kamski runs out of the vehicle, closely followed by two Chloe’s. That’s all Hank needs as he opens the door to follow after the trio, no longer able to stay in the dark. 

If Kamski was here, it meant that Connor was still alive. And if Connor was still alive, it meant that he would be able to hear Hank’s confession, would be able to hear the words he’d been longing for for months. 

The schene that greets him isn’t as bad as he had pictured it though. He still had nightmares of the facility where they dragged Nines’ barely alive body out of, the body parts scattered around the floors and walls, hanging from chains as if in a horror house. 

On the floor, there’s a single red pool beneath an unmoving man, Smith no doubt. But Hank’s eyes are transfixed on the small makeshift table under a light to the left of the big basement-like room. On the floor, a pool of blue surrounds it, Kamski and the Chloe’s shoes stepping in and around it. 

Thirium, something in Hank’s brain adds helpfully. Connor’s blood, it supplies shortly after. Kamski doesn’t look distressed where he’s learned over the still figure n the table, which was good, right? Hank feels as if he’s floating on a cloud as he moves closer. 

Nines is leaned over the table, over Connor’s head, his LED circling yellow and blue as he’s having a conversation with Connor. Or at least that’s what Hank thinks he’s doing. Connor is alive, isn’t he? 

The figure lying painfully still on the table is missing both its arms, Kamski and Chloe working silently on one side, blue lights flashing as a weird beep-beeping sound fills the large room. Hank feels sick when he finally reaches the table and sees that Connor’s eyes are closed, his LED spinning a solid red. 

His body, the parts that aren’t missing, has gone plastic white, the soft blue lines dividing the joints as the CyberSkin has given way to most of the diagnostic hardwires that are connected to Connor. In the middle of his chest, a circle Hank recognizes all too well rests, firmly sealed. 

Hank breathes a sigh of relief at that. If the Thirium pump was still intact, Connor would be fine. It’s at that exact moment that Connor’s eyes shoot open and a static crackling screams from his voicebox. Hank is shoving Nines out of his way before the scream ends. With hands on both sides of Connor’s face, Hank rumbles soothingly to him. Connor’s eyes are wild with fear, Thirium welling up in his eyes and streaks down his temples as he cries. 

“Let me reset his voicebox,” Kamski offers and a minute later, Connor’s soft, desperate sobs sound around the small table. 

“H-hank. H-h-ankkk...” Connor cries, this voice hoarse and rough sounding. 

“I’m here, Connor, I’m here,” Hank whispers, resting his forehead to Connor’s, “Fuck, I’m so sorry,” He knows he’s crying too, but kindly, no one comments on it. 

It is as if they’re in their own bubble, Kamski and his Chloe’s moving around them, Nines now at the end of the table, hand around Connor’s ankle under his pants leg, no doubt doing the whole android thingy Hank couldn’t understand. Right now though, brown, wild eyes looked up into his and just like that, all fear disappeared. 

“I love you so much, Connor. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, I was a coward. I was such a coward,” He croaks as the most pitiful declaration of love ever, but it has Connor grinning from ear to ear, his eyes softening as he stares up at Hank. 

At that moment, everything clicks for Hank and he doesn’t understand what he’s been so afraid of. He had almost lost Connor today, could lose him any day, at any time. With his life experience, he should embrace the ones he loved and never let them go a day without knowing how much they meant to him. It would be a new start then, he decided. 

*

“As if!” Gavin roared, laughter rolling off of him. 

“You cried like a baby too, Detective,” Nines adds helpfully, having Gavin a blushing mess in a second flat. 

It was a weird little family they had built during the last six months. After Connor’s kidnapping, the four of them had been all but inseparable from each other. Today, like many other days before, they were having Sunday dinner at Hank and Connor’s house. 

Hank would never tire of saying or thinking that, their house. 

After he had taken Connor home that day six months ago, they had had a real heart-to-heart with each other. Life was too short, too precious to waste away. Connor had still given him hell when Hank had listed the reasons why he didn’t give in earlier and admitted his feelings, but at the end of that day, they had both gone to bed together, sweet, soft words of love and adoration on their lips as they lay in each other’s arms. Hank had waited until the very last second to tell Connor how he felt, something he had worked very hard on to rectify ever since. 

“I love you too,” Connor whispers in his ear as he wound his arms around Hank’s neck from behind. 

“How did you...?” Hank gawks indignantly, but by now, he’s used to Connor reading him like an open book. 

“You get this look upon your face, Hank,” Connor smiles as he rests his cheek to Hank’s scruffy one and stares at the two in the living room. 

Unsurprisingly, or maybe it had been a surprise, Gavin had fallen head over heels for Nines, activating Connor’s big brother security system. It had been an entertaining few months before Connor had finally calmed down enough to let the two be. Nines had blossomed under Connor’s protection and Gavin’s attention, still a smart-mouthed little shit, but one with a humor Hank could get behind any day. He had lured Gavin out of his gloomy shell, resulting in a guy Hank hadn’t seen in a very, very long time. 

Walking over to the living room, Hank and Connor leaned close to each other as they watched Nines and Gavin poke fun at each other. Leaning down, Hank couldn't help the chomp he took off of Connor's ear. He was just too cute where he stood smiling. Taking Connor's hand, Hank squeezed it gently as he looked into those beautiful brown eyes. 

Together, they had made the perfect home.

~ The End

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading, hope you enjoyed! Remember to have a look at the beautiful art!
> 
> [You can find it here!](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22065448)


End file.
